The present invention relates to the design of a cosmetic package and more particularly to the design of a cosmetic package for mascara.
In the manufacturing of cosmetic packages, there are substantial expenses that are inherent in producing different packages from the same manufacturing facility. These expenses include the design costs of developing multiple packages, and the tooling costs associated with each different package design. Different manufacturing dies may be needed for different packages. There are also manufacturing costs associated with the reconfiguration of the production machines for a run of packages that varies from the previous run of packages. Extruder dies, molds, cutter heads, guides, fence settings, tool program settings and the like may need to be changed to adapt the tool or tools to the new physical dimensions of the package to be manufactured. This retooling and reconfiguration increases cost of the delivered product.
The costs of alternative package designs may be reasonably amortized over a large production order or series of orders. However, in small manufacturing orders, these costs are substantial. A typical example is a small production run to manufacture brush sample mascara packages to be used by consumers and others in testing a new product or new package configuration. Mascara formulations may differ from company to company, and each formulation may require a different brush, with a potentially different brush stem and brush wiper. It would be desirable to provide the manufacture of sample mascara brush packages with a flexible design that can be changed with a change of the mascara formulation with minimal effort. This will benefit the package manufacturer, who may be expected to provide inexpensive sample brushes, or the cosmetic company, who may wish to purchase and consumer test a variety of different mascara formulation brush combinations, without incurring the expense associated with a full package design and manufacture.
Consequently, what mascara brush package manufacturers need is a more universal and flexible design for mascara brush packages that would allow sampling of different mascara fluid/brush combinations thereby reducing the manufacturing expenses associated with different mascara brush packages. This flexible design should have a reduced parts count, be interchangeable into a number of design configurations, and minimize the need for changes in the manufacturing process when components are changed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a universal and flexible design for mascara brush packages, and more particularly to provide a standard design for a mascara brush sampler.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mascara brush package that will have a reduced parts count but with all the functionality of a custom designed mascara brush package.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a mascara brush package that can be used in a number of configurations without alteration of the base package design and with a standard manufacturing process.
To overcome the deficiencies of the past and present package designs and to achieve the objects and advantages listed above, a package design is disclosed which includes a reservoir having an open end and a closed end, with a frustoconical threaded socket at the open end; and a cap assembly having a cap end and a frustoconical threaded plug. The cap frustoconical threaded plug is sized to mate sealingly with the frustoconical threaded socket of the reservoir when the cap assembly is rotated relative to the reservoir. The cap frustoconical threaded plug has a stem projecting axially from the plug. A cosmetic applicator is mounted to the stem and a reservoir insert is fitted inside the reservoir below the frustoconical threaded socket. The reservoir insert has a wiping orifice sized and shaped to wipe the cosmetic applicator. In a preferred embodiment, the stem has a central bore at its free end, and a cosmetic brush assembly is mounted to the stem by fitting into the stem central bore.